The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under conductor Stephen Cleobury present a compelling second release. Here they perform Mozart Requiem (Sussmayr edition), with a second disc of complete movement realisations by leading composers and musicologists including Michael Finnessy, Robert D. Levin and Duncan Druce.
2010 – the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth – may be an opportunity to bring to light also littleknown gems of 17th and 18th century Polish music. These pieces, written by Polish composers and foreign composers living in Poland, deserve much greater attention. At the beginning of the 17th century Poland was a powerful state and was very open to new ideas from all artistic directions. The baroque aesthetic, which came from Italy, quickly established itself through "imported" composers and musicians working at Polish courts and in the churches. Alla polacca was formed by three musicians who studied chamber music together at Cologne University of Music under artists of such distinction as Konrad Junghänel, Barbara Schlick and Kai Wessel. The ensemble’s core members are Iwona Leśniowska-Lubowicz (soprano), Paulina Kilarska (harpsichord, organ) and Stanisław Gojny (theorbo, archlute and baroque guitar), all of whom have many years of experience in the field of early music interpretation.
On this disc we present a veritable feast of early to mid-twentieth century orchestral music by composers from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and Columbia. The works are all premier recordings, and brimming with Afro-Cuban and Creole folk-inspired sounds, as well as dance influences from the Argentine tango. Piazzolla’s little-known Milongón Festivo shows an interesting mix of styles, in which the Argentine tango is tempered by the influences of Stravinsky, Bartók, and jazz. Commissioned by Piazzolla’s son, the version on this recording is Castagna’s own arrangement for full symphony orchestra, notably without the use of bandoneón – a musical instrument reminiscent of the accordion, and traditionally an integral part of Argentine tango orchestras. Also on this disc, folk music meets impressionism in two works by the Argentine composer Carrillo, while Congada by Mignone is inspired by Afro-Brazilian dance music, and Valcárcel demonstrates his strong Peruvian style in Concierto Indio, a work for solo violin and orchestra. The Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen is one of the most prominent orchestras in Germany, sought after both at home and internationally. It is conducted by Gabriel Castagna, who has worked with numerous orchestras in the US, Europe, and Japan. Latin American music is a speciality of his, and he has received popular and critical acclaim for his many performances and recordings of works by Argentine composers, Piazzolla in particular.
The nine symphonies of Polish-born Aleksander Tansman (1897–1986) span more than forty years, from the fi nal stages of the First World War to the late 1950s when he enjoyed widespread recognition as one of the most successful and prolifi c composers of his generation. Articulating much of Tansman’s compositional development, the symphonies demonstrate an enduring commitment to a tonally based harmonic language within a traditional genre; they were written not only at a time, during the interwar years, when neoclassicism was the predominant trend, but also after World War II when composers who eschewed the exploration of postWebern serialism as the only viable way forwards for new music were considered oldfashioned by the more experimental avantgarde. Although his devotion to a supposed outmoded form may have contributed to the creeping artistic isolation that gradually took hold during the 1960s, Tansman was by no means the only composer of his time who found the symphony an attractive medium for musical exploration. Continuing a line of symphonic tradition extending from Roussel and Honegger to Milhaud and Jolivet, Tansman pursued an independent compositional path that built on tradition if not quite as much on innovation – a path that nevertheless has parallels in the work of Shostakovich and Dutilleux as well as in the music of his younger compatriots Lutosławski and Panufnik.
In the last quarter of the twentieth century our perception of the musical repertoire has been transformed through the compact disc, with its broad dissemination of works of every style and period. Along with other developments in the actual art of composition, this change has altered the way we think of such words as ‘modern’ and ‘avant-garde’. Composers today are familiar – and can count on their audience to be reasonably familiar also – with idioms and techniques current as long ago as the early Renaissance and the Middle Ages. They also have at their disposal the traditions of other cultures than those associated with western Europe
The Brabant Ensemble, better known for uncovering works by forgotten composers such as Dominique de Phinot, turns to a giant of the Renaissance—perhaps the most celebrated name of the period. Yet within Palestrina’s huge output there are many hidden gems, lacking both recordings and modern performing editions, and it is from among these that the ensemble’s director Stephen Rice has chosen the repertoire for this album. A Mass—Missa Ad coenam Agni, from Palestrina’s first book of Mass-settings—is included, plus antiphons, motets and five Eastertide Offertories. Each work is, as Stephen Rice states in his typically informative booklet notes, ‘a finely crafted addition to the liturgy’.The Brabant Ensemble brings a matchless blend of musicianship, scholarship and sensitive singing to this glorious music.
Tracklista:1. Allegro2. Andante Funebre3. Prelude in F Major4. Lullaby in B flat major5. Theme6. Var. 1, (Un poco piu mosso)7. Var. 2, Allegretto alla quartetto8. Var. 3 (Allegro)9. Var. 4 (Allegretto)10. Var. 5 Andante espressivo11. Var. 6, Allegro12. Var. 7, Andante13. Var. 8, Allegro vivace14. Var. 9, Allegro15. Var. 10, (Con moto)16. Var. 11, Andante17. Var. 12, Andante (non troppo lento)18. Allegro in E Flat Major19. Andantino semplice in B minor20. Repose (Elegy) in E major21. March in D Minor22. No. 1 (Moderato), E minor23. No. 2, Allegretto, C major24. No. 3, (Allegro scherzando), B flat minor25. No. 4, Largo, F minor26. The Composer's Birthday, for narrator and piano, four hands27. The Composer's Birthday, for piano, four hands
Ravel composed his highly imaginative piano suite Miroirs in 1904-05 after he had joined the Société des Apaches, a group of ground-breaking young musicians, composers, music critics, poets, writers and painters, among them great names like Igor Stravinsky, Florent Schmitt, Manuel de Falla and Maurice Delage. It was Ravel who proposed to adopt the main theme of the first movement of Borodin’s Second Symphony as the society’s musical dictum, a suggestion all members gladly accepted. Miroirs is a musical tribute to his fellow ‘Apaches’ or ‘hooligans’: each of the five movements is dedicated to one of the members. The eight short pieces that comprise Schumann’s Kreisleriana not only prove the point of highest musical imagination, but each individual movement is also a prime example of formal discipline and structural coherence within the cycle as a whole. It is no coincidence that Schumann studied Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier intensively when working on the Kreisleriana. The work’s tonal scheme shares one simple, unifying harmonic factor: the related keys of the ‘daemonic’ G minor and the rather gentle B flat major underpin six of the eight movements. Alexander Scriabin’s earliest compositions, most of them for solo piano, clearly demonstrate his adoration of Chopin, where his first two symphonies are still strongly liaised with Tchaikovsky’s. And like both these composers also Scriabin excelled in creating rich and colourful textures and sonorities. But it was Scriabin’s Later fascination for Wagner, Liszt and Nietzsche, Together with that mystic domain of theosophy and poetic symbolism that gradually put up a quite powerful momentum in his creative life. It all culminated in his greatest of all visions, that he would be able to establish an all-embracing, eternal and super human art form. (from the linernotes of this CD written by Aart van der Wal)The imagination, each on another level, is an important theme in all of the works on this CD. Alexei Volodin is a master in creating the right atmosphere for these imaginative works of all three composers. Although he is a virtuoso, he is even more a pianist who can dive deep into the inner world of the composer and his work. Combined with his own inner depth this results in performances that leave a lasting impression on the listener.
This 58th volume of the Romantic Piano Concerto series presents two composer-pianists who contributed to Liszt’s piano extravaganza Hexaméron (1837).Thalberg (who would be celebrating his 200th birthday in 2012) famously took part in a pianistic ‘duel’ with Liszt, and was popularly acclaimed as the greatest pianist in the world during his lifetime. He only wrote one piano concerto, and that in his teens, but it is a brilliantly effective showpiece for virtuosity and stamina, the pianist’s hands barely leaving the piano. Johann Peter Pixis has now been consigned—perhaps unfairly—to the oblivion where so many early 19thcentury composers dwell. These are world premiere recordings of his charming Piano Concerto and Piano Concertino.Howard Shelley, undisputed master of the music of the early Romantic period, directs the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra from the keyboard with his usual insouciance and poise.
England came late to the trend of Lute Song, but embraced it in a way that proved to be more fruitful and influential than in the rest of Europe. This was mainly due to the figure of John Dowland, one of the greatest song composers of any age and the main inspiration behind this recording. Although many lute-song masterpieces were created by Dowland’s contemporaries, none of these composers equals his level of originality, musical quality and sheer sublimity. We have included some pieces by some of the more accomplished composers (Francis Pilkington, Philip Rosseter, Michael Cavendish, Robert Jones, Thomas Campion and Robert Johnson) in order to offer a wider picture of the English lute-song as a genre.Valeria Mignaco began her singing studies in Argentina and obtained her classical and baroque singing Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Holland. Finalist of the International Baroque Singing Competition of the Chateau de Chimay 2004 and 2006 and the International Young Artists Presentation in Anvers (with ensemble Via Artis), she also received an Honorable Mention at the Soloists Competition of the Flemish Early Music Festival in Brugge 2005. Her duo with Alfonso Marín had a Special Mention at the Alte Musik Treff, Berlin 2005. She has perfomed as soloist with Bachkoor Holland and Concertgebouw Kamerorkest, Cappella Amsterdam, Monteverdikoor Utrecht, Orquesta de Cámara de Rosario and worked under the direction of Gabriel Garrido, Paul van Nevel, Paul McCreesh, Daniel Reuss, Charles de Wolff, Jan Willem de Vriend, Daan Admiraal and Cristián Hernández Larguía. She also collaborates with well-known vocal ensembles like Cappella Amsterdam, Huelgas ensemble and Deutsche Kammerchor.Alfonso Marin began his musical studies in the Conservatorio Superior de Tenerife (Spain), and afterwards in the Conservatorium van Amsterda” were he continued his classical guitar and vihuela studies under the guidance of Lex Eisenhardt. From 1998 he devoted himself entirely to the study of early plucked instruments as the lute, theorbo and vihuela, continuing his studies in the same conservatory for five more years with the lutenist Fred Jacobs. After his graduation he carried on with an intense concert activity as a soloist, vocal and instrumental accompanist as well as basso-continuo theorbo and archlute player in many Dutch renaissance and baroque ensembles, orchestras and choirs like “Les Perruques de Amsterdam”, “Arion ensemble”, “The Royal wind consort”, “Nieuwe Opera Academie (DNOA), “Musica del Seicento” and»Amsterdam Symphonic Orchestra”. He is member and director of the renaissance ensemble El Parnaso Lirico with whom he has performed in Holland, Germany, France Belgium and Switzerland.